Cutler's frustration caught on camera, microphone

Smith downplays any problems

October 17, 2011|By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter

The Bears were all smiles after a 39-10 whipping of the Vikings on Sunday night at Soldier Field, but even a blowout victory came with some of the communication issues that have plagued the offense through six games.

An NBC camera and microphone captured quarterback Jay Cutler sharing some of his frustration at the end of the first half.

Looking toward the Bears' sideline as he went from the huddle to the line of scrimmage, Cutler yelled, "Tell him I said (blank) you."

It probably doesn't take many guesses to figure out who Cutler was upset with at the time.

The Bears have squandered timeouts this season as the play-calling system has broken down. The headset in Cutler's helmet has malfunctioned at times. Calls from offensive coordinator Mike Martz in the coaches' box to quarterbacks coach Shane Day on the sideline to Cutler have been late at other times.

Bears coach Lovie Smith did his best to downplay any issue, and in the pressure of a game, nothing like that is far from the ordinary.

"I don't think many guys were upset last night," Smith said. "You have to be careful about those cameras and the access that you guys get now. Some things you don't want to know. It's like you guys in the media. I don't want to know what you're saying down here always. If you had cameras here, you'd find out a lot of things that most people don't want to get out.

"So, for us, some things are sacred a little bit. Like the locker room for the players. You don't want cameras and microphones down there. So, again, there has got to be more important things to talk about than that type of stuff — football."